Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

PSALMS 81:3KJV
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Psalms 81:3 (KJV)

What does Psalms 81:3 mean?

Psalms 81:3 calls for a trumpet to be sounded at the new moon and at the appointed time of a solemn feast. The sound marks a special time for the people to gather and celebrate, rather than an ordinary day.

Following the instruments mentioned in verse 2, the trumpet adds a strong public signal to the music. The call is addressed to the community, inviting its members to take part in the occasion together.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 81:3

  • “trumpet” — שׁוֹפָר (shofar): This word means a horn used as a sounding instrument. The verse pictures the sound of a horn, rather than necessarily a metal trumpet.
  • “appointed” — כֵּסֶה (keseh): This word is often understood to refer to the full moon. The KJV’s “in the time appointed” presents the phrase as the time set for the feast.
  • “feast” — חַג (ḥag): This word means a festival or feast. It points to a special occasion observed by the community.

Why Psalms 81:3 matters

  • The sound marks a shared occasion. The command to blow the horn is connected with “our solemn feast day,” placing the speaker and hearers among the people who observe it.
  • The feast has a place in Israel’s established practice. The next verse calls it “a statute for Israel,” presenting the observance as something prescribed for the people.

Where else these words appear

“appointed” Hebrew H3677 · used in 2 verses

  • Proverbs 7:20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

“feast” Hebrew H2282 · used in 55 verses

  • Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 16:14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
  • Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

“up” Hebrew H8628 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 31:25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
  • Judges 7:19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
  • Proverbs 6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

“trumpet” Hebrew H7782 · used in 63 verses

  • Exodus 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
  • 1 Samuel 13:3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
  • Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.